Damages waiver precludes lost profits claim
In an Illinois case, a contract for consulting services for an online platform was terminated and the terminating party was supposed to return the source code to the other party but did not, breaching the contract.
Use of Forensic Evidence in a Lost Profits Case
Financial forensics experts are often called upon to measure the lost profits a business suffered as a result of the actions of another party. The measurement typically compares the profits of the company had the defendant not acted inappropriately to the profits that the company actually realized. Because lost profits measurement involves the calculation of the value of something that should have happened but did not, the process must incorporate assumptions and significant reliance upon ...
Damages Guide Editors Offer Insights and Advice to Valuers
Business Valuation Update had the pleasure of sitting down with the editors of the recently published 7th edition of BVR’s Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages. They gave some insights into recent developments and some advice for experts who practice—or are thinking of practicing—in this area.
Patent Infringement Damages: Lost Profits and Royalties
If a patent owner can prove another company or party has made, used or sold a product covered by a patent without its permission, the patent owner is entitled, under 35 U.S.C. Section 284, to receive “damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court.” This program focuses ...
Calculating But-For Profits
Do you feel like being asked to calculate but-for-profits feels like an engagement in another dimension? Calculating the position the harmed party would have been in “but for” the alleged acts is an advanced skill for appraisers. Join expert and contributing author to The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, Stacey Udell, for a discussion of different strategies to determine net lost profits including the critical step of removing incremental costs that did not occur. Every ...
Calculating Damages for Early-Stage Companies
Measuring lost profits damages for new or early-stage businesses can be a daunting task. Traditional damage analyses that rely on historical results are often meaningless since, by definition, startup companies usually lack a track record of operating results. Without an operating history for measuring lost profits, the damages expert walks a thin line between speculation and reasoned analysis. Under most circumstances, to be admissible evidence, damage analyses require a relevant and reliable factual basis. These ...
New Damages Guide Examines Crypto Landscape
An understanding of the current issues and developments within the cryptocurrency industry, plus a look at some emerging case law, are crucial for damages experts in this area. This is an excerpt from the upcoming 7th edition of The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages.
Damages experts point to areas of practice growth
Damages related to cannabis firms, cryptocurrency, and intellectual property are on the rise, according to the editors of the recently released 7th edition of BVR’s Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages.
New edition of BVR’s guide to economic damages is available
The Comprehensive Guide to Economic Damages, already the profession’s leading guide of its type, is now even more wide-ranging in its new 7th edition, which has just been released.
Damages experts caught up in Irish bar fight
In a New York case, majority owners of an Irish soccer bar used the proceeds of a lease buyout to relocate the bar—and cut out the minority owners at the same time.
Johnston v. Vincent
The plaintiffs and defendants in this case, upon appeal to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, appealed certain rulings of the Louisiana Court of Appeals. The defendants asserted that the Court of Appeals failed to apply the manifest error standard correctly in reversing the district court’s findings of what constituted trade secrets and their misappropriation. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals on this issue. The Supreme Court also reversed the Court of Appeals as to the increase in the amount of lost profits damages. The Supreme Court also affirmed the Court of Appeals in its determination that actual damages must be trebled and that unjust enrichment damages must be awarded in some amount but were not to be trebled.
Louisiana Supreme Court Reverses Appellate Court as to Misapplication of the Correct Manifest Error Standard, Other Damages-Related Issues
The plaintiffs and defendants in this case, upon appeal to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, appealed certain rulings of the Louisiana Court of Appeals. The defendants asserted that the Court of Appeals failed to apply the manifest error standard correctly in reversing the district court’s findings of what constituted trade secrets and their misappropriation. The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals on this issue. The Supreme Court also reversed the Court of Appeals as to the increase in the amount of lost profits damages. The Supreme Court also affirmed the Court of Appeals in its determination that actual damages must be trebled and that unjust enrichment damages must be awarded in some amount but were not to be trebled.
Global BV News and Trends January 2023
Business valuation news from a global perspective.
Business Valuation Update Yearbook, 2023 Edition
January 2023 PDF, Softcover (426 pages)
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC
Endless River Techs. LLC v. Trans Union LLC
The plaintiff sued for damages in relation to termination of a contract requiring the plaintiff to develop software for use by the defendant in comparing real-time online insurance quotes insurers give to their customers. The defendant terminated the contract and admittedly breached the contract. A jury awarded the plaintiff $18.3 million in damages relating to the breach. However, the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant had a liability limiting clause, which prohibited recovery of “consequential damages.” After reviewing motions by the parties, the judge sided with the defendant in determining that the damages awarded were “consequential damages” and not “direct damages” and were not allowed under the contract between the parties.
U.S. District Court Overturns Jury Award for Consequential Damages
The plaintiff sued for damages in relation to termination of a contract requiring the plaintiff to develop software for use by the defendant in comparing real-time online insurance quotes insurers give to their customers. The defendant terminated the contract and admittedly breached the contract. A jury awarded the plaintiff $18.3 million in damages relating to the breach. However, the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant had a liability limiting clause, which prohibited recovery of “consequential damages.” After reviewing motions by the parties, the judge sided with the defendant in determining that the damages awarded were “consequential damages” and not “direct damages” and were not allowed under the contract between the parties.
Recap of the New Jersey CPA Society FVS Conference
Some excellent speakers covered litigation tips, malpractice, estate tax audits, statistics for lost profits, cryptocurrency, and divorce matters at the Forensic and Valuation Services Conference hosted by the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA ...
Commercial Success in Patent Litigation
To obtain a United States patent, the claimed invention may not be obvious in view of prior art. Whether a claimed invention is obvious often arises during the examination of a patent application by the United States Patent & Trademark Office. After a patent issues, obviousness may again arise as a defense to infringement by an accused infringer in litigation or as a basis for invalidity by a petitioner in post-grant proceedings, such as Inter-Partes ...
Global BV News: New CBV Insight on damages published
A new paper examines two damages approaches generally used in a disputed matter: reliance damages and expectation damages.
Six things to know from the NJCPA BV conference
While we enjoy attending the major valuation conferences, we also look forward to attending local state CPA society conferences that focus on valuation.
Ohio Appellate Court Affirms Trial Court’s Denial of Permanent Injunction and Dismisses a Claim of Tortious Interference
An Ohio appellate court affirmed the trial court’s denial of a permanent injunction to the plaintiff because the evidence did not show that it faced immediate and irreparable injury or harm. It was also held that the trial court properly dismissed the plaintiff’s claim for tortious interference because the plaintiff did not allege that the defendant induced a third party not to continue to do business with the plaintiff.
Total Quality Logistics, LLC v. Tucker, Albin and Assocs.
An Ohio appellate court affirmed the trial court’s denial of a permanent injunction to the plaintiff because the evidence did not show that it faced immediate and irreparable injury or harm. It was also held that the trial court properly dismissed the plaintiff’s claim for tortious interference because the plaintiff did not allege that the defendant induced a third party not to continue to do business with the plaintiff.
Damages expert dodges exclusion bullet
In a patent infringement case in Tennessee, the defendants filed a motion to exclude the testimony of the damages expert for the plaintiffs.
Appellate court KOs damages method for soybean farm
A CPA who specializes in damages used three ways to calculate damages to a Louisiana soybean farm caused by someone who was supposed to be checking for insects.
Business Valuation Update Yearbook, 2022 Edition
January 2022 PDF (454 pages)
BVR (editor)
Business Valuation Resources, LLC